Shows / This Is Nashville
This Is Nashville
This Is Nashville is a live one-hour daily show driven by community, for community. This flagship program of WPLN News will become your one-stop-shop for news in Nashville and Middle Tennessee, as we continue to show up each day.
Episodes
- This Is Nashville
What Nashville can do about climate change
Climate change is already affecting our city, and the time to do something about it is running out. How is Nashville preparing to become more resilient and…
- This Is Nashville
Youth perspectives on the mayoral race
Nashville is changing rapidly, and local youth have something to say about it. Since the previous mayoral race in Nashville, the city has been through a lot…
- This Is Nashville
Queer traditions in Nashville’s music scene
The bass is bumping and the banjo is twangin’ as folks across the LGBTQIA+ community gather together to celebrate. What are some of the untold stories in roots…
- This Is Nashville
Overturning Roe v. Wade, one year later
It's been nearly a year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, which triggered Tennessee's abortion ban. Now, Tennessee residents have to travel…
- This Is Nashville
The future of affirmative action in Tennessee
Now, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the future of affirmative action in the coming days. Today, we’ll talk to experts on law and affirmative…
- This Is Nashville
Nashville’s free community resources
From free libraries to community fridges to online groups, some of the best things in Nashville are free. We talk with organizers and users of local free…
- This Is Nashville
Remembering the Nashville sit-ins
On June 19, the nation celebrates Juneteenth to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved African Americans after the Civil War. While Juneteenth was only…
- This Is Nashville
Salsa, two-step, bachata… we’re talking partner dancing!
No need to bring a partner, either. Nashville’s dance communities are welcoming and many even include dance lessons. Needless to say, partner dancing is alive…
- This Is Nashville
David Poile's legacy with the Nashville Predators
It is hard to imagine the Nashville Predators without general manager David Poile. That is because there hasn’t been a Predators without Poile in franchise…
- This Is Nashville
Connecting to the world with Sister Cities Nashville
Have you met Nashville’s sisters? Sister cities, that is. If you didn’t know, the long-running Sister Cities Nashville program has formal partnerships with…
- This Is Nashville
Getting to know Nashville hip-hop collective Six One Tribe
Collectively and individually, the group has met with many barriers to getting somewhere with their music or making music at all, and joining Six One Tribe has…
- This Is Nashville
Reflecting on the People's Plaza protests, three years later
On June 12, 2020, a group of protesters began occupying Legislative Plaza. Among them was now state-representative Justin Jones. For over two months, they…
- This Is Nashville
The scoop on Nashville’s ice cream scene
This episode first aired on July 22. Ice cream is the perfect summer treat. This hour is all about ice cream in Nashville. What are some current trends? What…
- This Is Nashville
How Nashville entrepreneurs get their business ideas off the ground
Small business is a big deal in Nashville. Today we talk to Nashvillians who are making their living by starting their own businesses, and the folks who help…
- This Is Nashville
50 years of jazz radio and the future of Nashville’s jazz scene
“Jazz is here, whether you know it or not!” That’s how one local jazz musician describes the scene in Middle Tennessee. It’s thriving, if less visible, with…
- This Is Nashville
Citizen Nashville: What do Nashvillians want from our next mayor?
On August 3, Nashville will elect its next mayor from 12 candidates. Rather than interviewing the candidates, for now we're making space for members of the…
- This Is Nashville
Nashville’s tourism honcho Butch Spyridon
Nashville wasn’t always the tourist destination it is today. Over the past three decades, the city has attracted high-level pro sports franchises, minted the…
- This Is Nashville
Making a living as a musician in Nashville
This episode first aired on April 25, 2022. Nashville is known as Music City, but as the cost of living continues to rise in Nashville, it’s putting pressure…
- This Is Nashville
Outgoing Vanderbilt Divinity School Dean Emilie Townes reflects on her legacy
Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School is the only one of its kind in the South. It’s liberal and interdenominational, and, under the leadership of Dean…
- This Is Nashville
Celebrating Franklin Pride
Franklin Pride is this weekend. The festival narrowly survived a months-long campaign to have the city deny its permit over backlash against last year’s drag…
- This Is Nashville
How Nashville students have shared in Music City’s songwriting tradition for 44 years — and counting
Nashville is a “song town,” but what’s the first step into songwriting for young people? For many, that first touch comes through the Words & Music curriculum…
- This Is Nashville
Swimming pools and water safety
The summer heat hasn’t quite kicked in yet here in Nashville. But the city’s outdoor public pools are opening for the season soon, so we’re diving in! We…
- This Is Nashville
What does AI music mean for Nashville?
It’s easy to get up in arms when thinking about bots replacing human voices, instrumentalists and songwriters. But how realistic are those fears? And what…
- This Is Nashville
Toward a more diverse and inclusive Metro workforce
The Metro Nashville government is a major employer, with some 10,000 workers, and city leaders have ambitions to create diverse, equitable and inclusive…
- This Is Nashville
Navigating into adulthood with disabilities
Most K-12 schools offer support staff and specialized education classes for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. But when those kids…
- This Is Nashville
Re-acclimating to life after incarceration
Most people who go to prison eventually get out. As difficult an experience as that can be, re-entering society afterward can be just as challenging as life on…
- This Is Nashville
Rodeo culture in Middle Tennessee
Rodeos are an iconic part of American culture and a cultural fixture across the United States, and the sport's season is just kicking off this month. In…
- This Is Nashville
Is arming teachers a solution?
One idea pushed as a solution to school shootings is to give teachers guns in the classroom, in lieu of school resource officers. The importance of this…
- This Is Nashville
Finding community while unhoused in Nashville
How do our unhoused neighbors find community? Today, we're speaking with current and formerly unhoused residents about life in shelters and encampments, as…
- This Is Nashville
Trees and shrubs of Middle Tennessee
But who are these giant beings living among us? Researchers tell us that trees have an underground network that they use to communicate with each other. So…
- This Is Nashville
Growing your own food in Nashville
This episode first aired on July 19. Among cultures around the world, it’s traditional to grow your own food. But with the rise of supermarkets and grocery…
- This Is Nashville
Exploring Middle Tennessee's craft beer scene
Nashville has a healthy local beer scene, with dozens of local breweries and beer halls, and even a WNXP-themed beer. This Sunday, the Craft Brewers Conference…
- This Is Nashville
Nashville's growing and diverse Latin music scene
And every corner of Latin America has a different style of music represented here. What once was a small community of musicians has exploded in recent years…
- This Is Nashville
Domestic violence in Middle Tennessee: reactions and resources
This episode first aired on April 11, 2022. In 2021, Nashville resident Marie Varsos tried to get protection from her husband after he strangled and threatened…
- This Is Nashville
New housing development and where Nashville newcomers are finding their homes
The real numbers are much smaller, but there’s no denying that the Nashville area has welcomed a lot of newcomers in recent years. So where are all these…
- This Is Nashville
The state of African American political power in Tennessee
For many outside of the state, the swift expulsions of state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson from the Tennessee General Assembly were a shocking…
- This Is Nashville
The future of tourism in Nashville
Nashville residents are . . . kind of sick of tourists. Perhaps very sick of tourists. Increased traffic downtown, a 24/7 party culture, rising housing costs –…
- This Is Nashville
Middle Tennessee’s shifting media landscape
Public trust of the media is down, and political polarization is rampant. But studies show the answer to both of these problems lies in local journalism. Today…
- This Is Nashville
The future of the Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board
In 2018, voters approved the creation of the Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board to keep police accountable to the community. But this month, the…
- This Is Nashville
Keeping cool on the road in Middle Tennessee
States with looser gun laws experience higher rates of road rage shootings that lead to injuries or deaths, according to a report by Everytown. Tennessee is in…
- This Is Nashville
Getting to know Middle Tennessee’s Palestinian community
Middle Tennessee’s Palestinian community may not be as large as other ethnic groups in the region, but its roots go back decades. The community has become…
- This Is Nashville
Celebrating the first ever Bettie Page Day
Saturday will be Music City’s first official Bettie Page Day. In this episode, we’re talking all about the native Nashvillian turned “Queen of Pinups” with her…
- This Is Nashville
Looking back at Paul Vasterling's 33-year-career with the Nashville Ballet
Paul Vasterling, longtime artistic director for the Nashville Ballet, is retiring at the end of this season. Vasterling has been with the company for more than…
- This Is Nashville
Remembering the life and legacy of Z. Alexander Looby
On April 19, 1960, a bomb exploded in the North Nashville home of attorney and former city councilmember Z. Alexander Looby. The blast was so powerful it…
- This Is Nashville
The traditions and challenges of being a Black farmer in Tennessee
Part of this is due to institutional discrimination and land distribution policies that favored white farmers and landowners. Land loss among Black farmers far…
- This Is Nashville
How Nashville’s Christian communities are responding to the Covenant School shooting
The mass shooting at the Covenant School thrust Nashville into the international spotlight. And it hit particularly close to home for our city’s Christian…
- This Is Nashville
Celebrating the Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival
The annual Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival takes place tomorrow. Founded in 2009 as a collaboration between the Japan-America Society of Tennessee, the…
- This Is Nashville
Tracking purple martins and other feathered friends
With the drama and attention around the gigantic purple martin roost at the symphony over the last two years, more of our eyes are on the sky and on our…
- This Is Nashville
The evolution of gun laws and the gun control movement in Middle Tennessee
The deadly Covenant School shooting revived the conversation about gun control in Middle Tennessee. In this episode, we talk to the people who are leading that…
- This Is Nashville
How Nashville’s youth are responding to the Covenant School shooting
In the two weeks since the Covenant School shooting, many in Nashville have rallied for gun control and school safety. A significant portion of those raising…
- This Is Nashville
What the expulsion of two representatives tells us about Tennessee
Tennessee House Republicans voted Thursday to expel two Democratic colleagues for breaking House rules. This came just days after Reps. Justin Jones, Gloria…
- This Is Nashville
Checking in on refugee resettlement in Middle Tennessee
In the past two years, war and violence in Afghanistan and Ukraine have displaced millions of people, and some refugees have resettled here in Middle…
- This Is Nashville
Finding community in Nashville’s queer spaces
It’s a challenging time to be an LGBTQ person in Tennessee. With laws targeting gender expression and an increase in violent threats, the instinct for queer…
- This Is Nashville
Opera by Hannibal Lokumbe makes world premiere in a big, bold production with Nashville Symphony
The Nashville Symphony is preparing for the world premiere of "The Jonah People: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph," an epic and ambitious opera from composer…
- This Is Nashville
What is the future of Middle Tennessee's trash?
We’re less than a decade away from maximum capacity at Middle Point landfill in Rutherford County, where Nashville and Middle Tennessee’s trash goes. What will…
- This Is Nashville
Why Columbia, Tennessee, celebrates the humble mule
The origins of this Maury County tradition date back to the 1800s, but the event known as Mule Day started in it current form in 1974. We'll take a look back…
- This Is Nashville
Tracing Nashville's hip-hop roots
This is hip-hop’s 50th year. In honor of that, we’re looking at Nashville's hip-hop scene and how it has evolved over the decades. To get a picture of what it…
- This Is Nashville
Community responds to the Covenant School shooting
Four days have passed since six people were killed by a shooter at the Covenant School in Green Hills. There is still much we do not know, and the grieving…
- This Is Nashville
Diving into North Nashville’s artistic heritage, then and now
Sixty years ago, North Nashville was a thriving cultural oasis. There were taverns and gambling joints, restaurants and ice cream parlors, boarding houses and…
- This Is Nashville
The buzz about pollinators
On this episode, we explore the world of pollinators in Tennessee. Bees, butterflies, even birds and other insects provide the essential service of carrying…